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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825601">I Will Be Here (Don't You Cry)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/centreoftheselights/pseuds/centreoftheselights'>centreoftheselights</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidents, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Parents, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Bleeding, Child Logic | Logan Sanders, Child Needs Rescuing, Fear, Fluff, Gen, Guilt, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Hysterical Strength, Kid Fic, Parent Morality | Patton Sanders, Parental fluff, Patton is Logan's Dad, Protective Morality | Patton Sanders, Tending Wounds, falling, scraped knees</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:53:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/centreoftheselights/pseuds/centreoftheselights</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While out hiking, Logan winds up in a perilous situation, and his dad Patton saves him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Logan Sanders &amp; Patton Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>128</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo, Centreoftheselights' Bad Things Happen Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Will Be Here (Don't You Cry)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>One of my <a href="https://potestessemagishomosexualitatis.tumblr.com/tagged/bad-things-happen-bingo">Bad Things Happen Bingo prompts</a>:</p><p>For the bad things bingo, the hysterical strength square prompt. You know those stories about parents who can lift cars off their kids? And you know how Patton is the dad of the group? Yeah....... You can pick who Patton's kid is (I'm a sucker for a certain dark strange son) or just make up a random kid if that's more comfortable for you (plus tons of snuggles once everyone's safe and well)</p><p>(The fact that I went for kid!Logan is absolutely due to recently reading <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24386581/chapters/58819747">love light gleams</a> by lovelylogans.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a beautifully sunny day, hardly a cloud in the sky. Around the edges of the path, flowers and shrubs were in full bloom, the air thick with the sound of bees buzzing lazily by and songbirds singing their little hearts out!</p><p>“Papa, papa look!”</p><p>Patton smiled indulgently as he walked over to see what his son had found. He was so glad that they lived somewhere where Logan could grow up around nature, and feed his unending curiosity about the natural world. Every time they went hiking like this, the nine-year-old would find new details to be enraptured with – the way a caterpillar moved, or the strange shape of a rock formation, or the way the trees knew which way up to grow – and Patton would return home with a fresh list of questions to research together.</p><p>Logan had taught him so much about the world and everything within it, about being a good father and about being a good person. Even though he was growing up so fast, becoming that incredible person that Patton couldn't wait to meet someday, Patton was glad of these little moments together where Logan was still his little scientist, his special little man.</p><p>“What have you found?” he asked, getting a little closer.</p><p>“It's definitely some kind of beetle… its shell is all shiny and ira- iradescience?”</p><p>Logan was crouched over next to a shrub on the side of the path, but as Patton approached, he grew worried. Logan knew to always stay away from the edge of the cliff, of course, but in his excitement he hadn't noticed how quickly the slope steepened just here, or the loose rocks that could easily make him lose his footing.</p><p>“Lo -” Patton started to say, warningly.</p><p>But at just that moment, the beetle took to flight. Startled by the motion so close to his face, Logan jumped backwards – and skidded on the scree, falling to his knees as his feet slid out from under him and he tumbled to a stop perilously close to the cliff edge.</p><p>“Baby!”</p><p>Patton's heart pounded in his ears. Logan cried out in pain, and something deep in Patton's gut responded, an aching, desperate need to <em>save his child</em>.</p><p>“Baby, can you hear me? I need you to stay very, very still, can you do that for me?”</p><p>Logan whimpered in pain. Then, in a very small voice, he called back: “Yes, papa.”</p><p>“I'm going to come get you, just hold on for me!”</p><p>Patton pulled off his backpack, throwing it to the ground so it couldn't overbalance him. Rope, why didn't he bring rope? But there was no time for regrets now – he'd just have to do his best with what he had.</p><p>Patton quickly lay down on his stomach, trying to get as much of himself in contact with the ground as possible.</p><p>“Okay. Can you look at me, sweetheart? Just turn your head a little, I'm right here…”</p><p>Two huge, blue eyes stared back at him, watery with fear behind the thick lenses of his glasses.</p><p>Patton reached towards his son. Logan was only a couple of feet away from his outstretched hand, but that distance felt like miles.</p><p>“I'm going to wriggle my way toward you like a worm,” he said, keeping a reassuring smile on his face. “And then I'm going to pull you back up onto the path. We're going to need to be very careful, but you're going to be okay.”</p><p>Logan nodded at him. Even though he was clearly still afraid, his eyes held that perfect, childlike trust of a child in their parent. He believed with his whole heart that Patton would keep him safe.</p><p>Patton would <em>not</em> let him down.</p><p>Carefully, Patton inched his way down the slope. With a burst of inspiration, he hooked his foot around the trunk of the bush Logan had been crouched beside, anchoring himself to the top of the slope, until finally, he was almost close enough to touch.</p><p>But he couldn't stretch any further. Not without losing his anchor.</p><p>“Baby boy,” Patton said, his chest tight. “Do you think you can grab my hand? Take it nice and slow…”</p><p>Logan was such a good kid. He uncurled from his ball as slow as a snail emerging from its shell. With every rock that shifted so much as an inch, Patton's heart skipped a beat – but Logan managed to get his arm free, stretching it up -</p><p>He grabbed Patton's hand.</p><p>Patton's heart kicked into overdrive. He hauled with all of his might, even though Logan yelped in pain from the rough rocks underneath him. A spray of gravel kicked back over the cliff edge – but Logan was moving towards him, Patton pulling them both back up the slope, until, with one last tremendous heave, Logan was safe on the trailpath and Patton was kneeling beside him.</p><p>A moment later, Logan was in his arms. Both of them were sobbing, from fear and relief, and Patton couldn't tell which of them was shaking more.</p><p>“Oh my precious boy, it's okay, you're safe, I've got you baby -”</p><p>Logan was crying openly, weeping into the collar of Patton's shirt in a way he so rarely did nowadays.</p><p>“That's okay, honey, let it all out.” Patton rubbed a hand on his back. “You were so brave for me, you did exactly what I asked, I'm so proud of you sugarbun.”</p><p>Patton could feel the manic energy of adrenaline starting to ebb out of him, but with Logan crying like this he didn't think they'd be moving any time soon. Instead, he shifted to sit cross-legged, picking Logan up so that he was cradled across Patton's lap, not leaning on his poor grazed knees.</p><p>“Oh, my precious little man,” Patton sighed, wincing at the mass of scrapes and tears all over Logan's bare legs. Both his knees were badly bloodied, and one leg had a long vertical gash where he must have scraped along a sharp rock. “I'm so sorry baby, I should have been more careful. The first aid kit is in my pack, we'll have to get these cleaned up and bandaged…”</p><p>Patton had never been more grateful for his friend Virgil's insistence on keeping the first aid kit well-stocked and up-to-date. They were going to get through a lot of the antiseptic and dressings today…</p><p>“Papa…” The first coherent word out of Logan's mouth was mumbled against Patton's shirt. “I'm sorry.”</p><p>“Oh no, honey, it wasn't your fault!” Patton immediately reassured him. “It was an accident! People trip and fall all the time!”</p><p>“But -” Logan's lip wobbled. “But you're <em>hurt</em>!”</p><p>He pointed to Patton's belly, where sure enough, there was a tear in his shirt and a thin trickle of blood. A shallow graze, one that probably wouldn't even merit a bandage.</p><p>Patton's heart seemed to swell in his chest, so huge that it was pressing against the back of his throat. Logan had been torn half to ribbons by those rocks – but here he was, worrying about his papa…</p><p>“Oh, my lovely Logan,” Patton murmured. “My beautiful baby boy. This was <em>not</em> your fault, and I would <em>never</em> be mad at you for something you can't control. All that matters to me is that you're safe. You're the most important thing in the world to me.” He chuckled weakly. “Besides, I'm a dad, and that means -” he dropped to a low whisper - “I'm actually a superhero when it comes to looking after my kids.”</p><p>“Papa!” Logan pouted. “I'm a big boy. I know superheroes aren't real!”</p><p>“Oh, they're not?” Patton teased. “Then how do you explain my magic healing kisses?”</p><p>Logan frowned, in that crinkle-faced way he had when he didn't know the answer to something.</p><p>“Magic kisses only work <em>after</em> you put the Band-Aid on,” he said reluctantly.</p><p>“You are absolutely right!” Patton agreed. “Now, are you ready for me to take a look at those cuts? I'm afraid it might sting a little…”</p><p>“That's okay,” Logan declared magnanimously. “I won't be mad at you cause you can't control it. And anyway, I'm being <em>very</em> brave today.”</p><p>“That's my boy,” Patton said, his heart swelling with pride and love.</p><p>Yeah, Logan was growing up fast. But for now, he was still Patton's baby.</p><p>And Patton would do anything to keep him safe.</p>
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